Second Annual Israeli-Russian Film Festival

Join us for an exciting and unequaled celebration of Israeli-Russian culture!

The Russian American Cultural Center is pleased to announce the
Second Israeli-Russian Film Festival | Кинофестиваль российского зарубежья,
starting with all-day program on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at Tribeca Film Center, 375 Greenwich Street, NYC and continuing at other locations. Q&A sessions, Panel Discussion, Reception will follow.

• 2011 Festival Honorees: Film directors Lina and Slava Chaplin will be recognized for their outstanding contribution to the Art of the Cinema. Born in Russia and graduates of the Cinematography Institute, the Chaplins immigrated to Israel in 1976. For 35 years, they have created dozens of documentary and feature films, many of which have won awards in Israeli and international film festivals. Most of the Chaplins' films emphasize the identification of Russian immigrants with the nation of Israel, while simultaneously affirming the importance of their Russian cultural roots to Israeli culture as a whole.
• World premiere: Resort Terezinbad: the Life of Vacationists by Svetlana Portnyansky is about one of the most sophisticated and cynical deceptions of the Nazis during the Holocaust.

FESTIVAL PROGRAM
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 11:30 AM – 7:30 PM
Tribeca Film Center, 375 Greenwich Street, NYC

Special Guests Presentation: Lina & Slava Chaplin

11:30 AM

Weeping Susannah by Lina and Slava Chaplin
Israel, 2009, 48 minutes. Hebrew, English subtitles, Cast: Maya Maron, Zak Berkman,Galia Yishai.
A three-part mini series based on Alona Kimhi's award winning bestseller. Emotionally disturbed Susannah lives with her widowed mother. The arrival in Israel of long-lost nephew from New York turns Susannah's world upside down.

12:30 PM

Resort Terezinbad: the Life of Vacationists by Svetlana Portnyasky
World Premiere of a documentary sponsored by AFRJ
USA 2011, 45 minutes, English
The Russian American Cultural Center is proud to present this documentary as a part of the RACC's International Russian Émigré Film Program.
Created as a "temporary accumulator" Theresienstadt ghetto, did not turn into a death camp only because of the liberation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops. The fascist myth of the camp-resort, the exemplary place of preservation of the elite of Western European Jewry was successfully reinforced by misinformation and staged documentary intended to show to the International Red Cross.Through the ghetto, which essentially became a concentration camp, passed 139,667 European Jews, 86,934 of whom were transported to extermination camps. To learn how actually looked like life at another hotbed of the Holocaust, how people survived in a state of catharsis, as in this state, worked and created masterpieces, this movie.

Q&A session with Svetlana Portnyasky

Special Guest Presentation continues

1:30 PM

Paper Snow by Lina and Slava Chaplin
Israel 2003, 98 minutes, Color, Hebrew/Russian, English subtitles, Cast: Jenya Dodina, Zak Berkman, Gal Zaid, Pira Kantor, Salva Kanchev
Best film - The Israeli TV Academy awards (2003)
Russian-born actress Hanna Rovina, a founding member of the Jewish theatre Habima that originated in Moscow and ultimately became Israel's national theater company, embarks on a wildly tempestuous affair with Alexander Pen (Zak Berkman), a young self-destructive poet from Siberia.
This historical drama revealing the atmosphere of Tel-Aviv bohemian intellectual life of the 1930s also presents other literary giants, Avraham Shlonsky, Avraham Halfi, and Hayyim Nahman Bialik, all hailing from Russia. Paper Snow pays tribute to their Russian literary and theatrical background. In this way, the film focuses on the Russian roots of Israeli culture, emphasizing the importance of Russian Jews (past and present) to Israel.

Q & A Session with Lina and Slava Chaplin

3:10 PM

The Loners by Renen Schorr
Israel 2009, 92 minutes, Color, Hebrew/Russian, English subtitles, Cast: Sasha Agronov, Anton Ostrovski-Klin, Tzahi Grad, Rotem Zisman-Cohen.
The fierce story of two Russian speaking immigrants, Glory and Sasha, the two Golani soldiers without family or friends accused of treason even though they pleaded not guilty and demanded a retrial to prove their innocence. After losing their basic rights to freedom and dignity, they found themselves at a point where there was nothings left to lose. The film exposes the hidden sides of these young immigrants whose true wish is to belong, to be Israeli.

Special Guest Presentation continues

5:00 PM

Yoel, Israel, and Pashkavills by Lina Chaplin
Israel 2008, Documentary, 55 minutes, Color, Hebrew/Yiddish, English subtitles.
Israel Klachkin owns a printing press and has written and printed hundreds and thousands of pashkavills. Yoel Kraus has been collecting them for 20 years, and has over 20,000 in his possession. Yoel is the most authentic representative of the Neturei Karta, the radical anti-Zionist stream in ultra-orthodoxy. He has no Israeli ID card, no social security and no contact with the State. He is 34 years old and lives in one-room apartment. He has nine children, and he and his wife Rachel plan to have 22. Yoel doesn't eat "Zionst" food. Rachel bakes bread and he has his own cow, in order to avoid purchasing milk from the Israeli dairies. Our camera managed to penetrate, for the first time, the private and intimate moments and to really get to know them.

6:00 –7:00 Panel Discussion

Dr. Regina Khidekel, Festival Curator and Director RACC, Dean Movshovitz, Director of Film & Media, Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in New York, Israeli film directors Lina and Slava Chaplin and Olga Gershenson, Professor, University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

8:00 PM - Cocktail Buffet Reception (by invitation) will be held at the Anne Frank Center USA located at 44 Park Place (corner Church Street), New York, NY 10007 (212-431-7993). www.annefrank.com

Meet Lina and Slava Chaplin, Assemblyman Alex Brook-Krasny, Festival sponsors Igor Branovan, Steven Melnik, Irina Olevsky, Dmitry Shiglik, producer Brian Stampone, Princess Diana Bagrationi, film director Slava Tsukerman, and other distinguished quests from the diplomatic, artistic and business communities.

Partners of the Second Israeli Russian Film Festival in New York:

Cultural Center of Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton-Manhattan Beach;
Kings Bay YM-YMHA, Russian Cultural Center (Washington).

December 15, 7:00 PM

Screening and meeting with Lina and Slava Chaplin
Kings Bay YM-YMHA
3495 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn NY 11229

Yoel, Israel, and Pashkavills by Lina Chaplin
Israel 2008, Documentary, 55 minutes, Color, Hebrew/Yiddish, English subtitles.
Israel Klachkin owns a printing press and has written and printed hundreds and thousands of pashkavills. Yoel Kraus has been collecting them for 20 years, and has over 20,000 in his possession. Yoel is the most authentic representative of the Neturei Karta, the radical anti-Zionist stream in ultra-orthodoxy. He has no Israeli ID card, no social security and no contact with the State. He is 34 years old and lives in one-room apartment. He has nine children, and he and his wife Rachel plan to have 22. Yoel doesn't eat "Zionst" food. Rachel bakes bread and he has his own cow, in order to avoid purchasing milk from the Israeli dairies. Our camera managed to penetrate, for the first time, the private and intimate moments and to really get to know them.

December 17, 5:00 PM

Screening and meeting with Lina and Slava Chaplin
Cultural Center of Shorefront Y
3300 Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn
www.shorefronty.org/arts

Paper Snow by Lina and Slava Chaplin
Israel 2003, 98 minutes, Color, Hebrew/Russian, English subtitles, Cast: Jenya Dodina, Zak Berkman, Gal Zaid, Pira Kantor, Salva Kanchev.
Russian-born actress Hanna Rovina, a founding member of the Jewish theatre Habima that originated in Moscow and ultimately became Israel's national theater company, embarks on a wildly tempestuous affair with Alexander Pen (Zak Berkman), a young self-destructive poet from Siberia.
This historical drama revealing the atmosphere of Tel-Aviv bohemian intellectual life of the 1930s also presents other literary giants, Avraham Shlonsky, Avraham Halfi, and Hayyim Nahman Bialik, all hailing from Russia. Paper Snow pays tribute to their Russian literary and theatrical background. In this way, the film focuses on the Russian roots of Israeli culture, emphasizing the importance of Russian Jews (past and present) to Israel.
Best film - The Israeli TV Academy awards (2003)

January 12, 7:00 PM

Kings Bay YM-YMHA
3495 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn NY 11229

The Loners by Renen Schorr
Israel 2009, 92 minutes, Color, Hebrew/Russian, English subtitles, Cast: Sasha Agronov, Anton Ostrovski-Klin, Tzahi Grad, Rotem Zisman-Cohen.
The fierce story of two Russian speaking immigrants, Glory and Sasha, the two Golani soldiers without family or friends accused of treason even though they pleaded not guilty and demanded a retrial to prove their innocence. After losing their basic rights to freedom and dignity, they found themselves at a point where there was nothings left to lose. The film exposes the hidden sides of these young immigrants whose true wish is to belong, to be Israeli.

The Russian American Cultural Center, 520 East 76 Street # 7E, New York, NY 10021.
More information: 646-831-0554, RussCulture@aol.com;
www.russianamericanculture.com

The Russian American Cultural Center (RACC), established in 1998 and headquartered in New York, is the US leading nonprofit organization with the mission to facilitate cultural life within the Russian émigré community and to promote international understanding of Russian and Russian Jewish culture by supporting cultural awareness, cultural exchange and cultural diversity. RACC producing events in multidisciplinary fields such as art, music, performance, literature and serves an enormous audience including both Russian speakers and general public, connecting people of all ages and enriching the cultural perspective of audiences across the United States and abroad.

The Anne Frank Center USA, a partner organization of the Anne Frank House, uses the diary and spirit of Anne Frank as unique tools to advance her legacy, to educate young people and communities about the consequences of intolerance, racism and discrimination, and to inspire the next generation to build a world based on mutual respect. www.annefrank.com
The AFC USA is located at 44 Park Place (corner Church Street), New York, NY 10007 (212-431-7993)

The Festival is organized by the Russian American Cultural Center and supported by the Office of Cultural Affairs, Consulate General of Israel in New York; the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, Melnik Law Group, PLLC (Estate. Tax. Business. Asset Protection. Elder Law www.melniklaw.com); Dr. Igor Branovan; Dr. Dmitry Shiglik - American Forum of Russian Jewry; Irina A. Olevsky, Esq.; Sergei Sakhnovskiy – New York Ice Dance Studio; Eugene Shkolnikov; Bridge-Most Consulting, Cinderella Travel, Princess Diana Bagrationi Foundation, VK-Studios; and Anne Frank Center USA.
Media Partners: RTVi, NTV, RTN-WMNB, SNOB.ru, Media Holding Nash Dom, Tablets, Forum, Russkaya Reklama, Ykrop, RussianNY.com, Radio Globus, 87.7, Our Voice, DavidzonRadio, NYTimes etc.
Special thanks to Mr. Koba Tatanashvili, caterer.

From Russia - and Israel - with Love by Adam J. Sacks via The Jerusalem Report, Jan 16, 2012 (in English): Click here to read

Israeli Cinema in Russian by Ari Kagan via Evening New York (in Russian):
http://www.arikagan.com/israel-film-5065.html

Article by Marina Lagunova (in Russian):
Click here to read

Israeli Cinema with a Russian Accent by Oleg Sulkin via Voice of America (in Russian):
http://www.voanews.com/russian/news/Israel-cinema-with-russian-accent-2011-12-10-135381953.html

Films on the Previously Forbidden Subjects by Slava Tsukerman via Snob.Ru (in Russian):
http://www.snob.ru/profile/23682/blog/43852

New York Times Spare Times event listing:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/arts/spare-times-for-dec-9-15.html

About the 1st Israeli-Russian Film Festival:
http://news.rusrek.com/ru/russkaya-obshina/sobytiya-russkaya-obshina/108146-slava-czuckerman-i-izrailsko-russkoe-kino.html
http://www.voanews.com/russian/news/america/Russian-Movie-Of-Israil-2010-10-30-106375823.html